The boy alleged to have murdered Ava White yelled “get out my face, lad” at her moments before she was stabbed, a court heard.
Ava died after she was stabbed in School Lane in Liverpool city centre. Boy A accepts responsibility for her fatal injury, but says he acted in self-defence.
The teen, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies murder and manslaughter. A trial at Liverpool Crown Court has been hearing evidence from friends who were with her around the time of the incident on November 25, 2021. Today, jurors heard from Girl F, one of a number of friends with Ava that night.
READ MORE: Ava White screamed 'I've been stabbed' to friend after attack
A number of other boys and girls of varying ages have already provided evidence to the court in the form of police interviews and pre-recorded cross examinations. Girl F was with Ava as she was stabbed, though like other children who have already given evidence, she said she originally thought the 12 year old had only been punched in the neck.
The jury has previously heard how, in the hours before Ava was stabbed, she and her friends were in town and had been drinking vodka and messing about near St John’s Shopping Centre. After being moved on by a security guard, they had moved towards Williamson Square before Ava became angry after seeing another group of boys who appeared to be filming them.
They then moved across Church Street and into School Lane, were Girl F said Ava continued to try to follow the boy and got close to him as she told him to delete the video he had taken of her. Girl F said Ava was particularly irritated as the group didn’t know him and didn’t want videos of them “acting silly” on social media.
Just before the stabbing, she said Ava got “face to face” with Boy A and told him again to delete the video. She said: “The next minute we just hear ‘get out of my face, lad’ and I thought he pushed her but he stabbed her. He was circling round us with a smirk on his face.”
Girl F and other friends said they then chased after him but he managed to get away from them. It was only when she returned to School Lane that she realised Ava had been badly hurt.
Earlier in the day, another friend, Boy J, told the court he wasn’t there at the precise moment Ava was stabbed but saw her immediately afterwards as she ran towards him. He said: “I heard Ava say ‘I’ve been stabbed, I’ve been stabbed’. I just heard it as I was about to turn the corner so I’ve run round and [Girl D] had hold of her and she was running towards me.”
Boy J said he saw Boy A running away with other kids chasing him and it was only when he got closer to Ava that he saw her injuries. He said: “Then they brought Ava round, everyone could see her because [Girl D] had hold of her and she just coughed blood and then went backwards.”
(Proceeding)
